Keanan Brand decided to complicate my day by tagging me (and a few others, so I’m not in this alone) for The Next Big Thing: “a blog hop initiated six months ago by Toby Neal, who tagged five other writers.”
Thank you, Keanan, I will get you for this!
The rules of the blog hop:
- Mention who tagged you, and link to their post.
- Give the rules.
- Answer the ten questions below.
- Link to several more people.
And now, onward me hearties:
1) What is the title of your next book?
Sword’s Edge
2) Where did the idea come from for the book?
A dream I had circa 1985. It involved a girl sent to rescue a kidnapped prince. Most of the story has changed, but that plot remains in the novel.
3) What genre does your book fall under?
Sword-and-planet.
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
That’s easy because two of the main characters in the original dream were actors. LOL
For the girl, Kristen Kreuk, when she was about 16. (And this is crazy, but of course as I wrote the story, my family would read it. My older daughter called me and said I had to watch this new show Smallville because my main character Tam was in it. I turned on the TV and behold! It was indeed Tam!)
For the “prince” (no longer a prince, but still an important personage), Rick Schroder, also about age 16 (he was in the dream – and no I never watched Silver Spoons, don’t ask me how my backbrain came up with him!).
Another major character would be a 30 year-old Guy Williams (also in the dream, but no wondering how my mind zeroed in on him – swords, capes, Zorro – naw, no idea at all!).
The fourth is a bit more ambiguous, a compilation of several actors. I’ve yet to decide definitely who I see as this man, although if I could draw worth anything, I could give you a spittin’ image.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A lass grieving her father’s murder must overcome her self-doubt to uncover traitors who threaten her clan.
6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It’s been submitted to a publisher, but I’ve yet to receive a response. I might decide to go ahead myself. We’ll see.
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
I had the dream in ’85. I scribbled bits and pieces then threw them out. I stopped writing for a long time, but in 2000, the dam broke, and I couldn’t hold it back. I wrote the entire first draft in a few weeks, and over the next few months, the rough drafts of several other books in the series. I’ve been refining and expanding the series since while searching for its home.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Pern. Not that it has dragons or such, but the idea that their planet once had advanced technology, which was slowly buried and forgotten while they reverted to a simpler lifestyle. And that their past and their technology will slowly be rediscovered.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?
As I said, the story originated from a dream that I couldn’t shake. It kept popping back up, nagging me, until years later I gave in and wrote the book.
10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?
The progress of the young protagonist as she overcomes her self-doubt, and the relationships she forges with those around her. There’s also hints of the lost technology, such as portals, and alien abilities, such as empathy. Oh, and swordplay. And capes!
The next next big thing:
Forward momentum!
Writer's Cramps 
So, um, when do I get to read it? (ahem, ahem, ahem)
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When it gets published? LOL
Unless you’re offering to do a read-through (not an edit or proof even) to tell me if it stinks. 😉
Seriously, I’m giving it a go-over then I think I’ll look for someone do to a cover and just self-publish.
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